With everyone shocked, and Miyata on his knees, Takamura begins the count, confusing the gym mates who believed Miyata had merely slipped. The Coach theorizes that Ippo must have hit Miyata's chin during the failed uppercut. Miyata laughs it off as merely unexpected, but when he tries to stand up, he finds that he cannot. Despite his desperate attempts, he fails to stand and Takamura reaches 10 count declaring Ippo the winner.

As gym mates cheer for Ippo, the coach interrupts saying that he will be training Ippo harder from now on as he believes Ippo still lacks the basics, but Ippo passes out before he can finish his speech. That night, Ippo tells his mother all about it and doesn't get to sleep until 5:02.

Days later, Fujii returns to the gym with pictures of the fight confirming the coach's belief that Ippo just barely hit Miyata's chin, by just 1 centimeter. Causing Miyata to temporarily lose function of his legs after getting his brain lightly shaken. Fujii refers to this as the "Destructive Power of 1 cm" and tells Kamogawa that Ippo is a boxer to place their hopes on.

Meanwhile, Ippo learns that Miyata has dropped out of the gym. He heads for Miyata's house and finds him standing outside. Miyata tells him that the reason he quit is because being from the same gym, they can never settle the score in the pro ring and he vows that they will next meet at the East Japan Rookie King Tournament Finals. When Ippo arrives at the gym the next day, he sees that Miyata's name has been removed from the roster and begins training.